Welcome to our first official whap.tk Test Study Guide! Now remember, if you don’t want to fail and dishonor your family, a little bit more studying may be necessary. This study guide crams all the good information into a small document, but this still leaves out a lot of small details that the tests always contain. To be prepared for advanced questions on each test, make sure to skim through (or take time and ACTUALLY read it, ya know) the individual Study Guides for each of the following four chapters. And yes, we know Chapter 9 is a behemoth, but that’s the SHORTENED version of Islamic history.
What we’re trying to say is, yes use this guide. Read it, and try to memorize it. This is absolutely important. Just make sure to get extra info also from the other pages, but make sure to study this stuff hard too. Also, if you’re out of time and have barely any time to study, don’t waste time reading only Chapter 9’s long study guide. Read this whole thing and do okayish overall instead of terrible everywhere and amazing in one place. We’re only giving you advice on how to not crash your GPA (or at least not crash it in this class).
Main Authors: The one and only: Christian Guy and Muslim Guy
Guest Starring: The Russian Dude!
Any ideas on how to improve our study guides for future tests will be much appreciated.
SMALL NOTE: I know we’re taking a while to actually start the guide, but these chapters are a total of 120 PAGES of reading. We saved you an insane amount of time, and we do it for free.-Muslim Dude (We are the champions, and ya’ll are the users, and we are the champions)
Ok Christian guy here…. LET’S DO THIS
Now it would help, if I knew what the heck I was studying for….
*Goes to dragonwhap.com, Nothings there*
*rage quits*
*Throws his computer on the ground*
*Picks it up, crying and slowly hugs it*
*Goes back to writing real important stuff*
Anyways… I’m just going to look on the calendar, and try to go over everything from the last test…. (Edit: I didn’t want to do this but we can’t let Muslim guy, 1 up us, COME ON CHRISTIANS)
K… So the chapters are 6-9…. not that bad IG
(We’ll finish the individual study guides for each chapter ASAP)
Now the Muslim Guy made a 17 page long study,(he has no life(*After preparing to lock myself inside for the next 2 hours to type this all out)) There’s no way I’m going to type out that much… But this is going to be pretty long…. It is 4 chapters we got to go over...
Chapter 6:
WELL HERE WE GO
This chapter is about Africa and the Americas, and the Time Period is 500 BCE to 1200 CE
ok… So by the end of the Ch 6 Portion you should know a few things about:
Meroe 265-67
Axum 267-70
Piye 268-69
Niger Valley Civilization 270-72
Maya Civilization 273-75
Teotihuacan 275-77
So this chapter is a lot about comparing Continents.
Americas had no domesticated animals, and therefore didn’t develop pastoral societies.
Africa lacked sheep, goats, chickens, horses and camels,(natively) (is that a word?) but since of their location, and their “closeness” to Europe, they could easily, get those same animals.
Eurasia and Africa also had a well developed Metallurgy system, compared to the Americas
Metallurgy
In the Americas, writing was limited to the Mesoamerican region and was highly developed in the Mayas. In Africa it was confined to the North and Northeastern regions of Africa.
There are a few other comparisons, and we’ll be discussing that later…
In this Chapter, Christianity spread like wildfire across Africa, Primarily Ethiopia #YAAS
Arabia was a point of contact with Eurasia, specifically for African People. The arrival of the Camel, probably came from Arabia, which also probably came from nomadic tribes. Later, camels, make it possible to easily traverse the Sahara. Over the years, the east african coast became an integral part of the Indian Ocean
Let’s go to the civilizations of Africa…
Now Africa itself is very diverse. It has a lot of different cultural identities. These differences mainly grew with the environmental differences of the continent.
Africa did have one thing in common, cut in half by the Equator, Africa is the most tropical out of all three supercontinents.
So now we’re going to branch out in-to some of those cultural identities…
Meroё:
Meroe is pretty much the Nubian civilization. The kingdom of Meroe was primarily a Monarchy, *whoop whoop* and it flourished the greatest during 300 BCE and 100 CE. They had many economic specialities,(thank you 9th grade social studies) such as merchants, weavers, potters, masons, etc. (Early tertiary positions) Metalwork was also a prominent industry of Meroe. They had a well developed agricultural society, with nearby rural areas, supplying tribute (of agriculture) Meroe was also filthy rich, like go to page 267, that's some high class jewelry.
That’s pretty much it for the Meroe….
Axum:
While Meroe basically extended the Nubian Kingdom, Axum was a whole new civilization.
It’s economic foundation. was based mostly on a highly productive agriculture industry. (♪these hoes ain’t loyal…♪ )(The garden tool, you idiot) No but seriously, the reason their agriculture industry boomed so well was the introduction to the plow, and not using traditional systems, such as the hoe. They started trading them in the Indian Ocean Commerce, which itself was growing Roman Demand. It spread it’s domain, with the use, of enforcing a Tribute Tax, effectively, controlling a vast kingdom. Axum was introduced to Christianity, during the 4th century.
Cities Without States (Along the Niger River):
A prolonged drought brought wayfaring, free roaming africans, to the fertile floodplains along the Niger River. With them, came the domesticated animals mentioned before, and many other skills, such as agricultural skills and metalworking skills. An important factor of these civilizations, was the lack of a state structure. These cities were not part of a larger empire, but rather their own, separate area.
Now let’s go to South America
And let’s start with Mesoamerica:
The americas, was pretty much isolated from the others. There were no other continents for anyone of the americans (no white people) to associate with anyone else. While pre-columbian societies are mostly focused on the Incas and Mayans, The mesoamericans, and andes preceded them.(I’m really tired rn so i’m not even going to try) anyways… It was a really diverse area geographically and environmentally. Despite that diversity, it was a distinct region, bound together only by the elements of a somewhat common culture. They all had a similar agricultural practices, and they also had similar religions, which had male and female deities. They even embraced a universal calendar.
Maya:
Scholars had ceremonial centers constructed as early as 2000 BCE. They were big on architecture. (Honestly RN I’m so sleepy, I would give up curry to go to sleep) They made advances in astrology, writing systems, and even engineering. They also had a highly developed political system. In addition to kings, they had divine rulers, or shamans. The mayans faded away because of the mayan drought.
I’m still sleepy so i’m not going to make it in depth, but only cover what’ll be on the test.
Teotihuacan:
A huge city, with huge amenities. Do we need to know anything else?
I mean, they were good at trading IG….
Chavin, Pan-Andean:
It’s basically a religious movement. It started in a town name Chavin. The town had an elaborate temple system, with ventilation shafts, the whole deal. They also had artworks of their deities. (May I mention that their shamans took LSD?) That’s all, they were an organized religious movement.
Moche:
Apparently we don’t need to know this, but it’s basically Moche, but it happened later….
Wari and Tiwanaku:
An empire which provided political integration and cultural commonality. Both were centered in urban populations, and had a very organized Government.(Don’t we wish the US of A was like that)Yeah that joke sucked, It’s 1AM ok? Anyways… Both collected , gathered, and hunted food and they had the same styles of pottery and even similar religious beliefs. They differed in the way they farmed. Wari used those stair techniques of farming, (I forgot what it was Edit:terrace) while Tiwanaku used irrigational canals.
Now back to Africa : Bantu:
Bantu people spread slowly to africa, without conquest or invasion.
(they also did stuff with metal)
Back to North America: The ancestral Pueblo:
They made houses out of clay… fun…
The mound builders, made their houses, in you guessed it, MOUNDS!
That took me way too much time… I got everything?
ON TO CHAPTER 7
Well ok…
So this is mostly about silk roads….
And it’s time for a Guest Star:
THE RUSSIAN GUY :D
Don’t worry, he’s not communist. We think…
SO silk trade…
What do you actually need to know?
Well you need to know…
Silk Roads 318-24
Black Death/ Plague 323-24
Indian Ocean Trading Network 324-34
Swahili Civilization 333-34
Sand Roads 334-37
Trans-Saharan Slave Trade 335-37
Thorfinn Karlsfeni 338-39
In Mother Russia, Student teach Book.
Anyways.. Let’s go nuking these paragraphs!
So the silk roads is basically a trade route that, connected pretty much the whole eastern part of the world! (If you don’t know this, get out of whap pls)
So let's do the rundown...
Silk Roads
So the silk roads basically was an exchange of goods, and idea across Eurasia.
How did it first start out and grow?
Well…
It all begins with the Nomads, and the needs for goods, that only other people have. This basically forced people to have connections with each other, so the Silk Road came into existence.
So we know that they moved goods, usually luxury goods around, but why the hell is it called the silk roads?
So the reason silk is the symbol of the trade route, is because china is one of the biggest factors in the Silk Road, and at the time, they had monopolized the silk Industry. The chinese women even helped to cultivate the silk!
The movements of cultures.
Well, let's just start with a few cultures and aspects.
Buddhism-Appealed to merchants (Specifically to Indians, because of the message that Caste doesn’t matter)
Yeah… Buddhism is pretty much the only thing you need to know… Need to know more? Page 322-23
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE
DISEASES!!!
Thats right! The good old Black Death, that kills everyone… This doesn’t really need explaining, but basically, a lot of people died.. Page 324
Indian Ocean Trade
Now, the silk roads also exchanged goods via the Indian Ocean.
Which is… The Trans-Oceanic Trade Route YAYAYAYAY!!!
These routes usually carried the high end luxury items, reserved for the elites..
These routes also encouraged advancements in navigation, to make the voyage easier!
Ocean Trade Route East Africa
So basically, this trade network connected with india? I’m not sure about this one, it’s prbly not on the test but… pg 332
If you want you can study more about the african trade across the sahara you can.. but I don’t think you need that either… pg 334
There's some stuff about Ibn battuta but ch 9 will discuss it..
And yeah.. this one is kind of short, if i should add anything tell me in the comments
Chapter 8
Back to the Christian Guy...
China did the stuff…
BEFORE ANYTHING, STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND WATCH THIS... Love - Christian Dude
Ok back on topic…, as Donald Trump has so graciously said…. CHINA
So… Where do we start?
Sui Dynasty 366-67
Tang Dynasty 367-68
Song Dynasty 367-72
Hangzhou 369
Economic Revolution 369-71
Foot Binding 371-72
Tribute System 373-76
Bushido 382
Chinese Buddhism 388-92
Emperor Wendi 390
You should know most of these terms by the end of this section.
Hmm… So let’s start at the fall of the Han Dynasty(220 C.E.)….
Basically, when the han dynasty fell, there was 3 or 4 centuries, of basically anarchies… Although there were still aristotle families, that had some sort of power.
An Age of Chinese Achievement
So after the 3-4 centuries, of free time, came the Sui Dynasty... (589-618) This dynasty had a wide arrangement of engineering feats. They built canals from northern and southern china, which linked them together, and greatly increased prosperity for that time period. Unfortunately for the Sui, the ruthlessness and a military campaign to overthrow Korea(They failed(This is why we have Kim Jong Un)), caused a people revolt…
The collapse of the Sui dynasty did not experience the disintegration of the Chinese state but rather, quickly jumped on it’s feet and got two more dynasties. First the Tang Dynasty(618-907), and then the Song Dynasty(960-1279)…. They both established practices that influence chinese culture to this day! *Ramen Noodles - Every Chinese guy ever frowns disapprovingly at me* Anyways…. During these times, they really had a philosophical time period were they reexamined their basic ways of society.
Particularly the song dynasty, which sought to have a new form of Confucism, that had elements of Buddhism, and Daoism. They also started to organize their government based on the academic abilities of students. Then the city blew up…(ALLAH AKBAR-Muslim Dude jkjk) It became a political hub much like Austin. They had specialized markets…(Whole foods), Restaurants,(Like Austin = Food), and even Musicians/Concerts… (ACL)
Not only that, they started to get industrialized! So they had metalworks… pretty much in their backyard. And they also used paper money. So.. thats kind of cool ig.
Now on to Women… (Specifically in the Song Dynasty)
Ok… so life kinda sucked for women in the Song era… While women in the Tang Dynasty, enjoyed greater freedom, the revival of confucism and economic growth, made a really strong patriarchal society. Once again, the confucian writers, encouraged the oppression of women.
You know the deal about Confucism… If you don’t, Pg 371..
Now we get to the real sh*tty stuff… Foot Binding. It was first used to basically “attract the husband” so that she becomes the wife over all the other concubines (Which BTW, WHY WOULD YOU WANT A GUY THAT HAS SIDE HO*S?) anyways…..it sucked.
Nomads
All you need to know is that they built a Wall to keep the Nomads out. (GUYSSSS... Donald TRUMP IS RIGHT)
Anyways.. On to the Tribute System.
k.. so the tribute system is… ACTUALLY LET ME FREAKING READ THIS MAMMOTH OF A PARAGRAPH BRB
After reading this I still don’t understand this fully, but I believe in the book, so let's do this..
So basically China made this new concept of the tribute system. They basically made northern nomads, and other people(Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, Japan etc.) to pay up, weird taxes, in exchange for protection, and the rights to trade in china’s markets. In addition to that, the tribute system, really made it easier to keep the peace in china…
Muslim Dude (Because I ALWAYS have to do everything)
So the tribute system is used by cultures around the world in this time period. It basically says, “Give me some of your goods each year and we’ll spare you and protect you.” Does that sound familiar, because it is LITERALLY modern-day extortionism. Oh well. One big thing to note is that occasionally some super powerful tribe would manage to make China pay THEM the tribute instead of the other way around. The whole system kept peace, stabilized the economy, and made things better.
Now on to relations of China and Korea
Korea had a lot of battles with china, and you can say their relationship was that of, a regular old breakup.. First Korea is like that crazy EX, always trying to hurt china. Then they kind of be friends again, and Korea pays a tribute tax to China. They exchanged some values, such as confucism, but that’s about it…
Vietnam and China
Vietnam was pretty similar to Korea, except that they were even rooted deeper in China. That was pretty much it..
Japan… May you forever stay weird
ANYWAYS…..
Japan was pretty independant from China… Prbly because they were separated by 100 miles of ocean… Japan tried copying China (Bureaucratically ), to be cool or something… IDK japan is just weird.. They encouraged Buddhism and Confucism.
Also quick jump in by Asian Guy- BUSHIDO IS THE SAMURAI CODE OF LAW ABOUT PEACE AND JUSTICE OR SOMETHING… carry on…
All in all China really jumpstarted the Economic growth of South-Eastern Asia….
*jumpman jumpman jumpman? Anyone listen to drake?
In addition to that China also jumpstarted the religion Of buddhism, which was a pretty big contribution on India’s part. China spread it pretty well via the silk roads.(you might want to go over this, if you feel bad about this, it’s page 388)
There’s a little bit about how China started to persecute Buddhism, basically because they were tax free, and they didn't like that, o they basically “disbanded it” this was a harsh blow, and buddhism, didn't really make a comeback from it since really recently, but Buddhism, still survives to this day!
Another thing that’s pretty important is the PAPER MAKING! China made the paper making process… (Explains how they made paper first) Muslim guy might discuss it in Ch9, but the only thing the Muslim Empire did was spread it.
SO THATS PRETTY MUCH IT!... On to chapter 9… UGH...
Chapter 9
Muslim Guy
That’s right. I’m back,(Guess who’s back? back again? Back in black. That’s a fact.) and here to make sure that even if ya’ll fail every other part of the test, you’ll get every question right about this chapter.(Was that insult to me?... In my face??? - Christian and Russian Guy)
Well ok, it won’t be THAT in-depth, but remember, the test shouldn’t be as hard on the Islam sections, so all you need to do is know a medium amount about Islam to be successful.(*Allah Akbar - racially insensitive person*- Christian Dude) So where do we start? I know! Let’s take an in-depth year-by-year, month-by-month, day-by-day, view of early Islamic history! (NO-Christian Dude)
Fine.
We’ll do it the easy (AND CHEAP) way. (As an Indian… I enjoy that! -Christian Dude)
Small Warning: This chapter is the longest out of the four by TEN PAGES, so yes, this will be way longer than the rest of them. This chapter is 1.3 times the size of the second biggest one, and the study guide will probably be the same.
Ancient Arabia 412-414 (Good background knowledge for essays)
The Prophet Muhammad’s Early Life 414-416 (It could be important, who knows?)
Basics of Islam 416
Making Islam Official 417-418
Sunni vs Shia Split 422-424 (This one will always trip people up, so study hard)
Legal Shariah vs Spiritual Sufis 424-425 (It’s much easier than it looks)
Women in Islam 426-428
India 429-430
Anatolia 431
West Africa 433
Spain 434-436
Islamic Contributions 439-441 (Always great for essays)
Oh yeah, that’s long. Don’t worry, most of them will go by fast.
Da Ancient Arabs
The Arabs were a pastoralist society by the name of bedouins. As all pastoral societies (and this is HUGELY important) they were a tribal society with little overall structure, and they constantly fought. There’s a few places that practiced agriculture, but the Middle East was overwhelmingly pastoral.
One important thing to note is that the city of Mecca (the holy city of Islam nowadays) was a religious shrine back then for the hundreds of Gods the Arabs believed in.
Arabia was in the middle of the Persian Sassanid Empire and the Byzantine Christian Empire, and they had a growing amount of monotheists. However, instead of the rapid adoption of Christianity, a new religion pops up and takes over ALL of its neighbors!(BOOOO - Christian Dude)
The Prophet Muhammad
You may like him, you may hate him (although tbh that’s just stupid… he was truly a great person, whether you believe in his message or not), but you can’t deny that Muhammad ibn Abdullah was one of the most (sometimes said to be THE MOST) influential people in human history. He was born in the year 570 to the son of the Makkan leader. His dad died before he was born, and his mom died when he was five. He was raised by his grandfather until the elderly man passed away when Muhammad was 12. For the rest of his life until the uncle’s death, Muhammad was watched over by a paternal uncle who was the leader of Makkah. When he was 25, he married the owner of the merchant business he worked for (and SHE was 15 years older than him, so no, huge age gaps were completely normal back then, pretty much ending any pedophilia arguments)
So Muhammad is this really big social justice warrior. He’s known in his tribe for being honest and trustworthy, and always fighting for the right cause.(Robin Hood? - Christian Dude) He sees the growing corruption in Mecca, including the oppression of women, the poor, and the disabled and orphans. Now all of a sudden he has this revelation where he is told that he is the Prophet of God, and over time he collects these revelations and makes them into the Quran.
Basics of Islam
So what are the basic things you should know about Islam for life? Well, here’s the major ones. There is only one God who is Allah, and no one else is divine. Sorry Christianity. Also, there’s the issue of Prophet. Lots of biblical prophets are also Islamic prophets, so you probably know the stories of a lot of them by now. The most major difference is that Jesus isn’t the son of god but he’s in reality another prophet.(PSH hah- Christian Dude) He was an awesome dude who everyone still loves, but he was a man like the rest of us.
(Hey, don’t freaking stone me or anything.)
Muhammad never claimed divinity, and in fact heavily rejected and condemned it. It’s why we don’t like pictures of Muhammad, because he was afraid people would start to worship him after a few decades if they made idols and all of him (although we won’t freaking shoot you if you draw a picture of him… still guys, a little decency goes a long way. If we say we don’t like it, be a nice person and just don’t draw it.)
The Quran is the holy book of Islam and has remained unchanged since its revelation 1400 years ago, thanks to the efforts of the currently millions of people who have it memorized.
Islam is also really big on social justice. You might think it’s oppressive to women, but early Islam was THE MOST LIBERAL STATE on the planet, and in a GOOD way, inventing practices we consider RIGHTS nowadays. Women had an enormous status update with Islam, and also the poor, elderly, disabled, and orphans received the respect they were denied.
Islam is against class and racial inequalities of any kind, saying that all men are equal before God. By extension, that also means that Islam denies clergy. Yep, we have no main pope or priest or anything. We have leaders, but they’re more political, although they should be well versed in religion. However, religion is a one-man thing, and there is no one in between you and God in Islam.
So there are five main pillars of Islam, and we’ll go over these real fast. The first is to declare you’re Muslim, the second is to pray five times a day, (it’s not that bad), the third is to give charity to the poor at least once a year (this could also function as a tax service for the government), the fourth is to fast from dawn till dusk for the whole month of Ramadan (it’ll start in the finals week of June this year -_-), and the fifth one is a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Mecca, the holy city of Islam. This journey is called Haj and is pretty cool.
Small note: That whole thing about the sixth pillar being Jihad? Please note, that whole thing is BS. Like, complete BS. Neither Sunnis nor Shias believe in that crap, and if 99% of a religion’s followers agree on something, I’m pretty sure it’s just bad researching to put an unsupported fact like that in a TEXTBOOK.(Robert Strayer just got rekt -Christian Dude)
Making Islam Official
So as Islam grows in Mecca, it gets more popular, but it also gets a lot of hate. Many Muslims are persecuted and tortured, and many are killed. It gets so bad that the Muslims are forced to flee Mecca and go to the city of Yathrib, now called Medina (city of the Prophet). This journey is a huge turning point in Islam, as the Muslims are now dead-set in their religion as they have abandoned their homes to go and live in peace. This happens in the year 622, and marks the first year of the Muslim Calendar.
Now in Medina, Islam grows rapidly, and it becomes a military power. In the year 630, Islam comes back to Mecca, and conquers the city. The entire city is spared, which is completely unlike custom. However, Muhammad goes to the Ka’bah, the holiest site in Islam, and destroys all the idols around it. Honestly, everyone’s Muslim by then, so it’s not like they need the idols anyways.
By the time Muhammad died in 632, Islam is in control of most of Arabia, and is about to embark on a rapid spread across the world, growing so insanely fast that we got forced to write a DBQ over it.
Sunni vs Shia Split
So Muhammad is this amazing leader who manages to unite all of Arabia under one banner.
But now he’s passed away. So who should lead now? Well, first up is his best friend. He has to put down a series of rebellions and false prophets.
The second Caliph is another big Muslim, really popular one. He’s the guy who brings about the enormous Muslim Empire, and this is where Islam spread just about everywhere.
The third Caliph was the son-in-law of the Prophet and one of the first Muslims. He was a good man, but his caliphate dissolved into a lot of rebellions thanks to a new extremist sect that was busy slaughtering Muslims while calling themselves just that (yes folks, ISIS existed back then too, and they did messed up things then too, primarily to Muslims, just like today.) Unfortunately, Uthman gets assasinated by this same extremist sect.
On to the fourth one, and this is where the REAL controversy is. Ali ibn Abi Talib. He’s important. REALLY important. He’s the cousin of the Prophet, he was raised by the Prophet after his father died, and he was married to the Prophet’s youngest daughter and had three kids with her. He’s immensely well-liked by everyone. We all love him. There’s just a small disagreement over when he should have been caliph. Some people think he should have been the FIRST caliph, while others believe that he should have been fourth like he was. I don’t want to be biased, but Ali was okay with being fourth. HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE CALIPH. (Have you ever noticed that the best leaders have never wanted to be leaders? G Washington for example.) So he becomes caliph, and he has a huge problem to deal with. Lots of important Muslims want to wage war on the sect that killed Uthman and just wipe them out. However, Ali wants to stop the bloodshed. He stops the army from leaving, but they still leave anyways. Now, he doesn’t want to, but he has to prove the might of the government, so he’s forced to take his own small army to stop them. He’s so short in numbers that guess who he recruits. The tribes of the people who killed Uthman. Not the best idea, but we won’t judge. They get to the battlefield, and finally some common sense starts happening. Both sides talk it out, and they both make peace. They go to sleep, and are ready to go back, except the worst thing ever happens. Those tribes that killed Uthman? They know they’re dead if the armies are at peace. So they go and ATTACK THE OTHER ARMY IN THE NIGHT. The battle does indeed start, and many Muslims die in it. And then things go downhill. Those same tribes decide to go and assassinate Ali, and that really messes up things, but his sons are still around, right? They’re killed in a battle. And that one battle sparks the greatest split ever seen in Islam.
A majority group who believes that Ali should have been fourth caliph and that caliphs should be elected (Sunnis), and a minority one who believes that the caliphs should have been blood relatives of Muhammad (Shias).
Now we have Sunnis and Shias.
Legal Shariah vs Spiritual Sufis
So here’s the important stuff about them. The Shariah people are about applying Islam to laws and all. They are lead by the ulama, who are religious scholars. These guys aren’t like priests, there is no clergy. They’re sort of the Senate of Islam. All you have to do to join is get an education, and that’s honestly pretty easy if you’re willing to do it. People who believe in Shariah try to make Islam more practical in day-to-day life.
Sufis? They’re all about spirituality and holiness and all. They like to ponder the mystical mysteries of our universe, and they focus on the relationship between one and God. These guys had separate sheikhs who would lead their congregations into gaining a deeper understanding of Islam.
The important thing is that the Sunnis still remain united, even with these differences of opinions. They’re just different opinions on life, nothing more.
Women in Islam
Ya know what, I am not in the mood for this. Just check out our whole PAGE about it in the Chapter 9 Study Guide. Yes, we know it’s long, but just skim through the thing fast until you find the parts about women. Chances are, the WHOLE page will be important on the test, so good luck! (This will probably not even be on the test, but something you should know about Islam is that women are equal to men spiritually. While there may be a few social distinctions between the two, (roles, clothing, etc.) They are seen as equal in the eyes of Allah.)
India
Islam is brought to India by Turkish invaders (I mean, everyone invaded back then), but yeah, they kinda looted Hindu temples first. Not so cool I guess. Islam spreads rapidly in areas that aren’t strictly Hindu, and its equality appeals to people who were alienated by the caste system of Hinduism. However, Islam is so different from Hinduism that even Hinduism can not absorb Islam. This allows Islam to grow, but also sets a limit on it, as it can’t really convert all those people in lands around southern India. Indians and Hindus lived mostly in peace together, and it’s during this period of exchange that Sikhism gets created, a religion all about complete and utter equality.
Anatolia
Another land where Islam is bought by Turkish invaders. Anatolia is Byzantine and is heavily Christian and Roman, but after a few years is mostly Muslim. The most Islamicized place is the Muslim Empire aside from Persia. Why? It has less people to convert, its right next door to Arabia, and the religions in Anatolia were pretty similar to Islam, making conversion a lot simpler.
West Africa
This one is kinda long but we’re gonna have to make it short… oh well.
So Islam is brought here by way of the merchant and trader, because who else would cross the freaking Sahara Desert? Nowadays, it was easy, but they didn’t even have decent maps back then. West Africa becomes widely Muslim, but there’s still tolerance of African religions. Some parts of Islam became Africanized, and they made a few changes here and there, but the West African rulers were generally chill guys. And rich. They were rich as heck. West Africa becomes part of the rest of the world through its conversion to Islam. Unlike the general conversions by Sufi men in India and Anatolia, most people in West Africa get converted by scholars and Shariah guys. Also, West Africa is pretty famous for its huge centers of learning, particularly Timbuktu, which was huge and amazing.
Spain
Again, too lazy and sleepy to type out this whole thing… agh. Check out our long guide for a more detailed explanation, but let’s go through it fast.
Muslim Spain is great. Tons of tolerance, it’s beautiful and successful, it looks unstoppable. Then, out of nowhere, it just falls apart. Christians begin attacking, and they torture Muslims, and so the Muslims begin persecuting Christians. It’s not pretty. About 1492 Muslim Spain loses its last stronghold, and that’s the end of a hugely tolerant society that suddenly became the opposite.
Islamic Contributions
Again, check out the study guide. This is an area where we might see lots of random questions, but who knows. If ya’ll remember the DBQ’s, Islamic civilization spread foods, economies, and ideas around the world, and brought about advancements in all sections of science, from medicine to math. Islam pretty much changed our world as they knew it.
And that’s it for Chapter 6-9! The super condensed crappy version that might give you a decent grade on the test. This study guide has all the main points, but remember, WHAP is all about the details, so you might want to review an in-depth study guide for a chapter you’re bad at!
And guys. Don’t just cram this whole thing one night before the test. Try to spread out your studying over a few nights. If you want to cram right before the test AFTER doing all of that, then sure, go ahead.
But seriously. Don’t just expect to do great by reading this and not studying anything at all. This is meant to help you, but if you don’t put the effort into this review or this class, then we hate to break it to you, but no matter who you pray to, whether it’s Jesus, Allah, Buddha or Cthulhu, you won’t be getting any help.
What we’re trying to say is, yes use this guide. Read it, and try to memorize it. This is absolutely important. Just make sure to get extra info also from the other pages, but make sure to study this stuff hard too. Also, if you’re out of time and have barely any time to study, don’t waste time reading only Chapter 9’s long study guide. Read this whole thing and do okayish overall instead of terrible everywhere and amazing in one place. We’re only giving you advice on how to not crash your GPA (or at least not crash it in this class).
Main Authors: The one and only: Christian Guy and Muslim Guy
Guest Starring: The Russian Dude!
Any ideas on how to improve our study guides for future tests will be much appreciated.
SMALL NOTE: I know we’re taking a while to actually start the guide, but these chapters are a total of 120 PAGES of reading. We saved you an insane amount of time, and we do it for free.-Muslim Dude (We are the champions, and ya’ll are the users, and we are the champions)
Ok Christian guy here…. LET’S DO THIS
Now it would help, if I knew what the heck I was studying for….
*Goes to dragonwhap.com, Nothings there*
*rage quits*
*Throws his computer on the ground*
*Picks it up, crying and slowly hugs it*
*Goes back to writing real important stuff*
Anyways… I’m just going to look on the calendar, and try to go over everything from the last test…. (Edit: I didn’t want to do this but we can’t let Muslim guy, 1 up us, COME ON CHRISTIANS)
K… So the chapters are 6-9…. not that bad IG
(We’ll finish the individual study guides for each chapter ASAP)
Now the Muslim Guy made a 17 page long study,(he has no life(*After preparing to lock myself inside for the next 2 hours to type this all out)) There’s no way I’m going to type out that much… But this is going to be pretty long…. It is 4 chapters we got to go over...
Chapter 6:
WELL HERE WE GO
This chapter is about Africa and the Americas, and the Time Period is 500 BCE to 1200 CE
ok… So by the end of the Ch 6 Portion you should know a few things about:
Meroe 265-67
Axum 267-70
Piye 268-69
Niger Valley Civilization 270-72
Maya Civilization 273-75
Teotihuacan 275-77
So this chapter is a lot about comparing Continents.
Americas had no domesticated animals, and therefore didn’t develop pastoral societies.
Africa lacked sheep, goats, chickens, horses and camels,(natively) (is that a word?) but since of their location, and their “closeness” to Europe, they could easily, get those same animals.
Eurasia and Africa also had a well developed Metallurgy system, compared to the Americas
Metallurgy
In the Americas, writing was limited to the Mesoamerican region and was highly developed in the Mayas. In Africa it was confined to the North and Northeastern regions of Africa.
There are a few other comparisons, and we’ll be discussing that later…
In this Chapter, Christianity spread like wildfire across Africa, Primarily Ethiopia #YAAS
Arabia was a point of contact with Eurasia, specifically for African People. The arrival of the Camel, probably came from Arabia, which also probably came from nomadic tribes. Later, camels, make it possible to easily traverse the Sahara. Over the years, the east african coast became an integral part of the Indian Ocean
Let’s go to the civilizations of Africa…
Now Africa itself is very diverse. It has a lot of different cultural identities. These differences mainly grew with the environmental differences of the continent.
Africa did have one thing in common, cut in half by the Equator, Africa is the most tropical out of all three supercontinents.
So now we’re going to branch out in-to some of those cultural identities…
Meroё:
Meroe is pretty much the Nubian civilization. The kingdom of Meroe was primarily a Monarchy, *whoop whoop* and it flourished the greatest during 300 BCE and 100 CE. They had many economic specialities,(thank you 9th grade social studies) such as merchants, weavers, potters, masons, etc. (Early tertiary positions) Metalwork was also a prominent industry of Meroe. They had a well developed agricultural society, with nearby rural areas, supplying tribute (of agriculture) Meroe was also filthy rich, like go to page 267, that's some high class jewelry.
That’s pretty much it for the Meroe….
Axum:
While Meroe basically extended the Nubian Kingdom, Axum was a whole new civilization.
It’s economic foundation. was based mostly on a highly productive agriculture industry. (♪these hoes ain’t loyal…♪ )(The garden tool, you idiot) No but seriously, the reason their agriculture industry boomed so well was the introduction to the plow, and not using traditional systems, such as the hoe. They started trading them in the Indian Ocean Commerce, which itself was growing Roman Demand. It spread it’s domain, with the use, of enforcing a Tribute Tax, effectively, controlling a vast kingdom. Axum was introduced to Christianity, during the 4th century.
Cities Without States (Along the Niger River):
A prolonged drought brought wayfaring, free roaming africans, to the fertile floodplains along the Niger River. With them, came the domesticated animals mentioned before, and many other skills, such as agricultural skills and metalworking skills. An important factor of these civilizations, was the lack of a state structure. These cities were not part of a larger empire, but rather their own, separate area.
Now let’s go to South America
And let’s start with Mesoamerica:
The americas, was pretty much isolated from the others. There were no other continents for anyone of the americans (no white people) to associate with anyone else. While pre-columbian societies are mostly focused on the Incas and Mayans, The mesoamericans, and andes preceded them.(I’m really tired rn so i’m not even going to try) anyways… It was a really diverse area geographically and environmentally. Despite that diversity, it was a distinct region, bound together only by the elements of a somewhat common culture. They all had a similar agricultural practices, and they also had similar religions, which had male and female deities. They even embraced a universal calendar.
Maya:
Scholars had ceremonial centers constructed as early as 2000 BCE. They were big on architecture. (Honestly RN I’m so sleepy, I would give up curry to go to sleep) They made advances in astrology, writing systems, and even engineering. They also had a highly developed political system. In addition to kings, they had divine rulers, or shamans. The mayans faded away because of the mayan drought.
I’m still sleepy so i’m not going to make it in depth, but only cover what’ll be on the test.
Teotihuacan:
A huge city, with huge amenities. Do we need to know anything else?
I mean, they were good at trading IG….
Chavin, Pan-Andean:
It’s basically a religious movement. It started in a town name Chavin. The town had an elaborate temple system, with ventilation shafts, the whole deal. They also had artworks of their deities. (May I mention that their shamans took LSD?) That’s all, they were an organized religious movement.
Moche:
Apparently we don’t need to know this, but it’s basically Moche, but it happened later….
Wari and Tiwanaku:
An empire which provided political integration and cultural commonality. Both were centered in urban populations, and had a very organized Government.(Don’t we wish the US of A was like that)Yeah that joke sucked, It’s 1AM ok? Anyways… Both collected , gathered, and hunted food and they had the same styles of pottery and even similar religious beliefs. They differed in the way they farmed. Wari used those stair techniques of farming, (I forgot what it was Edit:terrace) while Tiwanaku used irrigational canals.
Now back to Africa : Bantu:
Bantu people spread slowly to africa, without conquest or invasion.
(they also did stuff with metal)
Back to North America: The ancestral Pueblo:
They made houses out of clay… fun…
The mound builders, made their houses, in you guessed it, MOUNDS!
That took me way too much time… I got everything?
ON TO CHAPTER 7
Well ok…
So this is mostly about silk roads….
And it’s time for a Guest Star:
THE RUSSIAN GUY :D
Don’t worry, he’s not communist. We think…
SO silk trade…
What do you actually need to know?
Well you need to know…
Silk Roads 318-24
Black Death/ Plague 323-24
Indian Ocean Trading Network 324-34
Swahili Civilization 333-34
Sand Roads 334-37
Trans-Saharan Slave Trade 335-37
Thorfinn Karlsfeni 338-39
In Mother Russia, Student teach Book.
Anyways.. Let’s go nuking these paragraphs!
So the silk roads is basically a trade route that, connected pretty much the whole eastern part of the world! (If you don’t know this, get out of whap pls)
So let's do the rundown...
Silk Roads
So the silk roads basically was an exchange of goods, and idea across Eurasia.
How did it first start out and grow?
Well…
It all begins with the Nomads, and the needs for goods, that only other people have. This basically forced people to have connections with each other, so the Silk Road came into existence.
So we know that they moved goods, usually luxury goods around, but why the hell is it called the silk roads?
So the reason silk is the symbol of the trade route, is because china is one of the biggest factors in the Silk Road, and at the time, they had monopolized the silk Industry. The chinese women even helped to cultivate the silk!
The movements of cultures.
Well, let's just start with a few cultures and aspects.
Buddhism-Appealed to merchants (Specifically to Indians, because of the message that Caste doesn’t matter)
Yeah… Buddhism is pretty much the only thing you need to know… Need to know more? Page 322-23
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE
DISEASES!!!
Thats right! The good old Black Death, that kills everyone… This doesn’t really need explaining, but basically, a lot of people died.. Page 324
Indian Ocean Trade
Now, the silk roads also exchanged goods via the Indian Ocean.
Which is… The Trans-Oceanic Trade Route YAYAYAYAY!!!
These routes usually carried the high end luxury items, reserved for the elites..
These routes also encouraged advancements in navigation, to make the voyage easier!
Ocean Trade Route East Africa
So basically, this trade network connected with india? I’m not sure about this one, it’s prbly not on the test but… pg 332
If you want you can study more about the african trade across the sahara you can.. but I don’t think you need that either… pg 334
There's some stuff about Ibn battuta but ch 9 will discuss it..
And yeah.. this one is kind of short, if i should add anything tell me in the comments
Chapter 8
Back to the Christian Guy...
China did the stuff…
BEFORE ANYTHING, STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND WATCH THIS... Love - Christian Dude
Ok back on topic…, as Donald Trump has so graciously said…. CHINA
So… Where do we start?
Sui Dynasty 366-67
Tang Dynasty 367-68
Song Dynasty 367-72
Hangzhou 369
Economic Revolution 369-71
Foot Binding 371-72
Tribute System 373-76
Bushido 382
Chinese Buddhism 388-92
Emperor Wendi 390
You should know most of these terms by the end of this section.
Hmm… So let’s start at the fall of the Han Dynasty(220 C.E.)….
Basically, when the han dynasty fell, there was 3 or 4 centuries, of basically anarchies… Although there were still aristotle families, that had some sort of power.
An Age of Chinese Achievement
So after the 3-4 centuries, of free time, came the Sui Dynasty... (589-618) This dynasty had a wide arrangement of engineering feats. They built canals from northern and southern china, which linked them together, and greatly increased prosperity for that time period. Unfortunately for the Sui, the ruthlessness and a military campaign to overthrow Korea(They failed(This is why we have Kim Jong Un)), caused a people revolt…
The collapse of the Sui dynasty did not experience the disintegration of the Chinese state but rather, quickly jumped on it’s feet and got two more dynasties. First the Tang Dynasty(618-907), and then the Song Dynasty(960-1279)…. They both established practices that influence chinese culture to this day! *Ramen Noodles - Every Chinese guy ever frowns disapprovingly at me* Anyways…. During these times, they really had a philosophical time period were they reexamined their basic ways of society.
Particularly the song dynasty, which sought to have a new form of Confucism, that had elements of Buddhism, and Daoism. They also started to organize their government based on the academic abilities of students. Then the city blew up…(ALLAH AKBAR-Muslim Dude jkjk) It became a political hub much like Austin. They had specialized markets…(Whole foods), Restaurants,(Like Austin = Food), and even Musicians/Concerts… (ACL)
Not only that, they started to get industrialized! So they had metalworks… pretty much in their backyard. And they also used paper money. So.. thats kind of cool ig.
Now on to Women… (Specifically in the Song Dynasty)
Ok… so life kinda sucked for women in the Song era… While women in the Tang Dynasty, enjoyed greater freedom, the revival of confucism and economic growth, made a really strong patriarchal society. Once again, the confucian writers, encouraged the oppression of women.
You know the deal about Confucism… If you don’t, Pg 371..
Now we get to the real sh*tty stuff… Foot Binding. It was first used to basically “attract the husband” so that she becomes the wife over all the other concubines (Which BTW, WHY WOULD YOU WANT A GUY THAT HAS SIDE HO*S?) anyways…..it sucked.
Nomads
All you need to know is that they built a Wall to keep the Nomads out. (GUYSSSS... Donald TRUMP IS RIGHT)
Anyways.. On to the Tribute System.
k.. so the tribute system is… ACTUALLY LET ME FREAKING READ THIS MAMMOTH OF A PARAGRAPH BRB
After reading this I still don’t understand this fully, but I believe in the book, so let's do this..
So basically China made this new concept of the tribute system. They basically made northern nomads, and other people(Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, Japan etc.) to pay up, weird taxes, in exchange for protection, and the rights to trade in china’s markets. In addition to that, the tribute system, really made it easier to keep the peace in china…
Muslim Dude (Because I ALWAYS have to do everything)
So the tribute system is used by cultures around the world in this time period. It basically says, “Give me some of your goods each year and we’ll spare you and protect you.” Does that sound familiar, because it is LITERALLY modern-day extortionism. Oh well. One big thing to note is that occasionally some super powerful tribe would manage to make China pay THEM the tribute instead of the other way around. The whole system kept peace, stabilized the economy, and made things better.
Now on to relations of China and Korea
Korea had a lot of battles with china, and you can say their relationship was that of, a regular old breakup.. First Korea is like that crazy EX, always trying to hurt china. Then they kind of be friends again, and Korea pays a tribute tax to China. They exchanged some values, such as confucism, but that’s about it…
Vietnam and China
Vietnam was pretty similar to Korea, except that they were even rooted deeper in China. That was pretty much it..
Japan… May you forever stay weird
ANYWAYS…..
Japan was pretty independant from China… Prbly because they were separated by 100 miles of ocean… Japan tried copying China (Bureaucratically ), to be cool or something… IDK japan is just weird.. They encouraged Buddhism and Confucism.
Also quick jump in by Asian Guy- BUSHIDO IS THE SAMURAI CODE OF LAW ABOUT PEACE AND JUSTICE OR SOMETHING… carry on…
All in all China really jumpstarted the Economic growth of South-Eastern Asia….
*jumpman jumpman jumpman? Anyone listen to drake?
In addition to that China also jumpstarted the religion Of buddhism, which was a pretty big contribution on India’s part. China spread it pretty well via the silk roads.(you might want to go over this, if you feel bad about this, it’s page 388)
There’s a little bit about how China started to persecute Buddhism, basically because they were tax free, and they didn't like that, o they basically “disbanded it” this was a harsh blow, and buddhism, didn't really make a comeback from it since really recently, but Buddhism, still survives to this day!
Another thing that’s pretty important is the PAPER MAKING! China made the paper making process… (Explains how they made paper first) Muslim guy might discuss it in Ch9, but the only thing the Muslim Empire did was spread it.
SO THATS PRETTY MUCH IT!... On to chapter 9… UGH...
Chapter 9
Muslim Guy
That’s right. I’m back,(Guess who’s back? back again? Back in black. That’s a fact.) and here to make sure that even if ya’ll fail every other part of the test, you’ll get every question right about this chapter.(Was that insult to me?... In my face??? - Christian and Russian Guy)
Well ok, it won’t be THAT in-depth, but remember, the test shouldn’t be as hard on the Islam sections, so all you need to do is know a medium amount about Islam to be successful.(*Allah Akbar - racially insensitive person*- Christian Dude) So where do we start? I know! Let’s take an in-depth year-by-year, month-by-month, day-by-day, view of early Islamic history! (NO-Christian Dude)
Fine.
We’ll do it the easy (AND CHEAP) way. (As an Indian… I enjoy that! -Christian Dude)
Small Warning: This chapter is the longest out of the four by TEN PAGES, so yes, this will be way longer than the rest of them. This chapter is 1.3 times the size of the second biggest one, and the study guide will probably be the same.
Ancient Arabia 412-414 (Good background knowledge for essays)
The Prophet Muhammad’s Early Life 414-416 (It could be important, who knows?)
Basics of Islam 416
Making Islam Official 417-418
Sunni vs Shia Split 422-424 (This one will always trip people up, so study hard)
Legal Shariah vs Spiritual Sufis 424-425 (It’s much easier than it looks)
Women in Islam 426-428
India 429-430
Anatolia 431
West Africa 433
Spain 434-436
Islamic Contributions 439-441 (Always great for essays)
Oh yeah, that’s long. Don’t worry, most of them will go by fast.
Da Ancient Arabs
The Arabs were a pastoralist society by the name of bedouins. As all pastoral societies (and this is HUGELY important) they were a tribal society with little overall structure, and they constantly fought. There’s a few places that practiced agriculture, but the Middle East was overwhelmingly pastoral.
One important thing to note is that the city of Mecca (the holy city of Islam nowadays) was a religious shrine back then for the hundreds of Gods the Arabs believed in.
Arabia was in the middle of the Persian Sassanid Empire and the Byzantine Christian Empire, and they had a growing amount of monotheists. However, instead of the rapid adoption of Christianity, a new religion pops up and takes over ALL of its neighbors!(BOOOO - Christian Dude)
The Prophet Muhammad
You may like him, you may hate him (although tbh that’s just stupid… he was truly a great person, whether you believe in his message or not), but you can’t deny that Muhammad ibn Abdullah was one of the most (sometimes said to be THE MOST) influential people in human history. He was born in the year 570 to the son of the Makkan leader. His dad died before he was born, and his mom died when he was five. He was raised by his grandfather until the elderly man passed away when Muhammad was 12. For the rest of his life until the uncle’s death, Muhammad was watched over by a paternal uncle who was the leader of Makkah. When he was 25, he married the owner of the merchant business he worked for (and SHE was 15 years older than him, so no, huge age gaps were completely normal back then, pretty much ending any pedophilia arguments)
So Muhammad is this really big social justice warrior. He’s known in his tribe for being honest and trustworthy, and always fighting for the right cause.(Robin Hood? - Christian Dude) He sees the growing corruption in Mecca, including the oppression of women, the poor, and the disabled and orphans. Now all of a sudden he has this revelation where he is told that he is the Prophet of God, and over time he collects these revelations and makes them into the Quran.
Basics of Islam
So what are the basic things you should know about Islam for life? Well, here’s the major ones. There is only one God who is Allah, and no one else is divine. Sorry Christianity. Also, there’s the issue of Prophet. Lots of biblical prophets are also Islamic prophets, so you probably know the stories of a lot of them by now. The most major difference is that Jesus isn’t the son of god but he’s in reality another prophet.(PSH hah- Christian Dude) He was an awesome dude who everyone still loves, but he was a man like the rest of us.
(Hey, don’t freaking stone me or anything.)
Muhammad never claimed divinity, and in fact heavily rejected and condemned it. It’s why we don’t like pictures of Muhammad, because he was afraid people would start to worship him after a few decades if they made idols and all of him (although we won’t freaking shoot you if you draw a picture of him… still guys, a little decency goes a long way. If we say we don’t like it, be a nice person and just don’t draw it.)
The Quran is the holy book of Islam and has remained unchanged since its revelation 1400 years ago, thanks to the efforts of the currently millions of people who have it memorized.
Islam is also really big on social justice. You might think it’s oppressive to women, but early Islam was THE MOST LIBERAL STATE on the planet, and in a GOOD way, inventing practices we consider RIGHTS nowadays. Women had an enormous status update with Islam, and also the poor, elderly, disabled, and orphans received the respect they were denied.
Islam is against class and racial inequalities of any kind, saying that all men are equal before God. By extension, that also means that Islam denies clergy. Yep, we have no main pope or priest or anything. We have leaders, but they’re more political, although they should be well versed in religion. However, religion is a one-man thing, and there is no one in between you and God in Islam.
So there are five main pillars of Islam, and we’ll go over these real fast. The first is to declare you’re Muslim, the second is to pray five times a day, (it’s not that bad), the third is to give charity to the poor at least once a year (this could also function as a tax service for the government), the fourth is to fast from dawn till dusk for the whole month of Ramadan (it’ll start in the finals week of June this year -_-), and the fifth one is a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Mecca, the holy city of Islam. This journey is called Haj and is pretty cool.
Small note: That whole thing about the sixth pillar being Jihad? Please note, that whole thing is BS. Like, complete BS. Neither Sunnis nor Shias believe in that crap, and if 99% of a religion’s followers agree on something, I’m pretty sure it’s just bad researching to put an unsupported fact like that in a TEXTBOOK.(Robert Strayer just got rekt -Christian Dude)
Making Islam Official
So as Islam grows in Mecca, it gets more popular, but it also gets a lot of hate. Many Muslims are persecuted and tortured, and many are killed. It gets so bad that the Muslims are forced to flee Mecca and go to the city of Yathrib, now called Medina (city of the Prophet). This journey is a huge turning point in Islam, as the Muslims are now dead-set in their religion as they have abandoned their homes to go and live in peace. This happens in the year 622, and marks the first year of the Muslim Calendar.
Now in Medina, Islam grows rapidly, and it becomes a military power. In the year 630, Islam comes back to Mecca, and conquers the city. The entire city is spared, which is completely unlike custom. However, Muhammad goes to the Ka’bah, the holiest site in Islam, and destroys all the idols around it. Honestly, everyone’s Muslim by then, so it’s not like they need the idols anyways.
By the time Muhammad died in 632, Islam is in control of most of Arabia, and is about to embark on a rapid spread across the world, growing so insanely fast that we got forced to write a DBQ over it.
Sunni vs Shia Split
So Muhammad is this amazing leader who manages to unite all of Arabia under one banner.
But now he’s passed away. So who should lead now? Well, first up is his best friend. He has to put down a series of rebellions and false prophets.
The second Caliph is another big Muslim, really popular one. He’s the guy who brings about the enormous Muslim Empire, and this is where Islam spread just about everywhere.
The third Caliph was the son-in-law of the Prophet and one of the first Muslims. He was a good man, but his caliphate dissolved into a lot of rebellions thanks to a new extremist sect that was busy slaughtering Muslims while calling themselves just that (yes folks, ISIS existed back then too, and they did messed up things then too, primarily to Muslims, just like today.) Unfortunately, Uthman gets assasinated by this same extremist sect.
On to the fourth one, and this is where the REAL controversy is. Ali ibn Abi Talib. He’s important. REALLY important. He’s the cousin of the Prophet, he was raised by the Prophet after his father died, and he was married to the Prophet’s youngest daughter and had three kids with her. He’s immensely well-liked by everyone. We all love him. There’s just a small disagreement over when he should have been caliph. Some people think he should have been the FIRST caliph, while others believe that he should have been fourth like he was. I don’t want to be biased, but Ali was okay with being fourth. HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE CALIPH. (Have you ever noticed that the best leaders have never wanted to be leaders? G Washington for example.) So he becomes caliph, and he has a huge problem to deal with. Lots of important Muslims want to wage war on the sect that killed Uthman and just wipe them out. However, Ali wants to stop the bloodshed. He stops the army from leaving, but they still leave anyways. Now, he doesn’t want to, but he has to prove the might of the government, so he’s forced to take his own small army to stop them. He’s so short in numbers that guess who he recruits. The tribes of the people who killed Uthman. Not the best idea, but we won’t judge. They get to the battlefield, and finally some common sense starts happening. Both sides talk it out, and they both make peace. They go to sleep, and are ready to go back, except the worst thing ever happens. Those tribes that killed Uthman? They know they’re dead if the armies are at peace. So they go and ATTACK THE OTHER ARMY IN THE NIGHT. The battle does indeed start, and many Muslims die in it. And then things go downhill. Those same tribes decide to go and assassinate Ali, and that really messes up things, but his sons are still around, right? They’re killed in a battle. And that one battle sparks the greatest split ever seen in Islam.
A majority group who believes that Ali should have been fourth caliph and that caliphs should be elected (Sunnis), and a minority one who believes that the caliphs should have been blood relatives of Muhammad (Shias).
Now we have Sunnis and Shias.
Legal Shariah vs Spiritual Sufis
So here’s the important stuff about them. The Shariah people are about applying Islam to laws and all. They are lead by the ulama, who are religious scholars. These guys aren’t like priests, there is no clergy. They’re sort of the Senate of Islam. All you have to do to join is get an education, and that’s honestly pretty easy if you’re willing to do it. People who believe in Shariah try to make Islam more practical in day-to-day life.
Sufis? They’re all about spirituality and holiness and all. They like to ponder the mystical mysteries of our universe, and they focus on the relationship between one and God. These guys had separate sheikhs who would lead their congregations into gaining a deeper understanding of Islam.
The important thing is that the Sunnis still remain united, even with these differences of opinions. They’re just different opinions on life, nothing more.
Women in Islam
Ya know what, I am not in the mood for this. Just check out our whole PAGE about it in the Chapter 9 Study Guide. Yes, we know it’s long, but just skim through the thing fast until you find the parts about women. Chances are, the WHOLE page will be important on the test, so good luck! (This will probably not even be on the test, but something you should know about Islam is that women are equal to men spiritually. While there may be a few social distinctions between the two, (roles, clothing, etc.) They are seen as equal in the eyes of Allah.)
India
Islam is brought to India by Turkish invaders (I mean, everyone invaded back then), but yeah, they kinda looted Hindu temples first. Not so cool I guess. Islam spreads rapidly in areas that aren’t strictly Hindu, and its equality appeals to people who were alienated by the caste system of Hinduism. However, Islam is so different from Hinduism that even Hinduism can not absorb Islam. This allows Islam to grow, but also sets a limit on it, as it can’t really convert all those people in lands around southern India. Indians and Hindus lived mostly in peace together, and it’s during this period of exchange that Sikhism gets created, a religion all about complete and utter equality.
Anatolia
Another land where Islam is bought by Turkish invaders. Anatolia is Byzantine and is heavily Christian and Roman, but after a few years is mostly Muslim. The most Islamicized place is the Muslim Empire aside from Persia. Why? It has less people to convert, its right next door to Arabia, and the religions in Anatolia were pretty similar to Islam, making conversion a lot simpler.
West Africa
This one is kinda long but we’re gonna have to make it short… oh well.
So Islam is brought here by way of the merchant and trader, because who else would cross the freaking Sahara Desert? Nowadays, it was easy, but they didn’t even have decent maps back then. West Africa becomes widely Muslim, but there’s still tolerance of African religions. Some parts of Islam became Africanized, and they made a few changes here and there, but the West African rulers were generally chill guys. And rich. They were rich as heck. West Africa becomes part of the rest of the world through its conversion to Islam. Unlike the general conversions by Sufi men in India and Anatolia, most people in West Africa get converted by scholars and Shariah guys. Also, West Africa is pretty famous for its huge centers of learning, particularly Timbuktu, which was huge and amazing.
Spain
Again, too lazy and sleepy to type out this whole thing… agh. Check out our long guide for a more detailed explanation, but let’s go through it fast.
Muslim Spain is great. Tons of tolerance, it’s beautiful and successful, it looks unstoppable. Then, out of nowhere, it just falls apart. Christians begin attacking, and they torture Muslims, and so the Muslims begin persecuting Christians. It’s not pretty. About 1492 Muslim Spain loses its last stronghold, and that’s the end of a hugely tolerant society that suddenly became the opposite.
Islamic Contributions
Again, check out the study guide. This is an area where we might see lots of random questions, but who knows. If ya’ll remember the DBQ’s, Islamic civilization spread foods, economies, and ideas around the world, and brought about advancements in all sections of science, from medicine to math. Islam pretty much changed our world as they knew it.
And that’s it for Chapter 6-9! The super condensed crappy version that might give you a decent grade on the test. This study guide has all the main points, but remember, WHAP is all about the details, so you might want to review an in-depth study guide for a chapter you’re bad at!
And guys. Don’t just cram this whole thing one night before the test. Try to spread out your studying over a few nights. If you want to cram right before the test AFTER doing all of that, then sure, go ahead.
But seriously. Don’t just expect to do great by reading this and not studying anything at all. This is meant to help you, but if you don’t put the effort into this review or this class, then we hate to break it to you, but no matter who you pray to, whether it’s Jesus, Allah, Buddha or Cthulhu, you won’t be getting any help.